electric trolling motors

F

fisherkb

New member
All,

I am new to fishing but I am very interested in trying out downriggers for stripers in the lakes around Austin, TX. Looking at the threads I know that most of you use your kickers for trolling. I have not invested in a kicker mainly because the lakes are relatively small and help is usually just a cell phone call away. I was wondering if an electric trolling motor would be adequate as it would be considerably cheaper than a gas outboard. What are the trolling speeds typically used for stripped bass and is it reasonable to consider an electric trolling motor for a 22' cruiser?

thanks,

Karl
 
Yes and no. I have used electric motors on a lot of boats when I fished the lakes for trout. big lakes and small. Electric is great for downriggers or trolling top water plugs. Its quite and easy to do. A couple of large gel batterys works great. If you can find some wheel chair or electric buffer batterys these work great. so yes electric is great... to pull the boat. Heres the trade off. electric motors do not push very well. and its the wind that will kill you. All my trout boats were open boats. So I could place the electric motor on the bow. With a C-dory its just not doable and a electric, even a big one , will not push a flat bottomed boat with a lot of windage. I would go with a small kicker. look on craigs list, they are always there. Some use the trim mounted motors and have some luck with them. If you really want electric you could go that way but I don't think they work very well and you could get a used kicker for the same price. I hope this helps.
 
Thomas; How about using a hi-Thrust 24V MinnKota as a bow mounted main propulsion on a flat bottom boat on lakes? Somewhat like a side thruster. Wind would be a 180deg different matter in that case.
Zelpha
 
Well thats what I was saying. if you put it on the bow and pull the boat along it works great. the boat just acts like a weather vain behind the motor. This is how I fished all my other boats. You could do it with a C-dory but you would need a longer shaft then most motors have. And you would need auto pilot. I have one in the garage I have not used in a long time but the compass is out. There are a lot of top rate models out there with great features. a wire less auto pilot is becoming standard. One model has three bottom following setting. 1 will follow a set depth. 2 will follow a creek bottom and 3 will follow a set distance from shore. If you are going out for trout or striper in a big lake and can mount a bow electric motor then this is the best one.
 
That is it. a couple of very shallow skegs also helps. A front mounted electric motor is unbelievable great for docking also.
 
fisherkb-

First of all, one has to realize that there are more or less two different speeds for trolling for striped bass, though I'm no expert in that area.

The slow troll speed depends on the lure, but is generally 1.5- 2 mph, roughly speaking, for some plugs and trolled rotary harnessed anchovies, herring, etc.

The fast troll is more generally centered around 3.5 mph, for faster plugs and lures like HairRaiser trolled jigs.

Some rigs can be trolled at either speed, and the fish will have their preferences depending on whatever water conditions and feeding conditions determine.

Now what Tom is saying about it being easier to PULL a boat from the bow rather than PUSH it from the stern is abundantly clear from all bass boat experience and designs.

However, I've used an Engine Mounted Electric Trolling Motor to troll for trout very successfully.

It works great from 0 to 2 mph, which also happens to be the minimum speed from the 90 hp Yamaha 4-S, giving a complete range. In the event of strong wind, we just start up the big motor or go upwind with it, then troll downwind with the electric.

This system allows one to steer with the main steering wheel at the helm, and switch back and forth from electric to gas propulsion at will.

It's necessary to install some extra batteries and wiring, of course. See the article linked above for details, though we rarely use the generator and 40 amp charger anymore while trolling, and instead just start the Yamaha, in gear or out, to charge the batteries.

While we mostly fish lakes, it may be more difficult to apply in a river, however, because of shifting currents and bends in the river that alter your direction into the wind.

No big sales job, just some possible answers to your questions!

Check which one you want:

My....

___2¢ ___2 Pesos ___2 Rubles ___2 Swiss Francs ___2 Lira

___2 Drachma ___2 Yen ___2£ ___2 Rupees ___2 Marks ___2 Krona

___2 Shekels ___2 Euros ___2 C-Brat Bucks ___2 gallons of gas ___2 brews

Joe. :teeth :thup
 
Thanks for all the inputs. Sounds like I sound probably stay on the hunt for a used kicker or explore the set up that Joe mentioned.

thanks again.
 
fisherkb-

Thank for the comments.

Just one further thought if you're considering the set up I've developed:

This is great for quiet waters and stealth trolling, like for trout, walleye, and whatever else fits into that category.

But it's not good as an emergency back up motor for long distances, or trolling in big water or currents.

It can be used occasionally in salt water if needed, however. If doing so frequently, a salt water tolerant trolling motor would be needed.

My 44 lb thrust motor is minimally adequate for my kind of freshwater and very occasionally California Delta and ocean fishing, but if fishing larger waters much more, I'd get a 110 or 165 lb thrust unit, which would require running a generator and charger much more, or go back to a 6-15 hp gas unit, depending on the demands typically faced.

Good Luck with your choice!

Joe. :teeth :thup
 
For some comparisions, I use a 44 lb thrust salt water motor on a 12 foot aluminum skiff--it will give about 3 knots at full power. I use 2 Golf cart batteries (220 amp hours) and it will go about 3 hours at 2 knots. I also use a 3 hp outboard which will give over 5 knots--as long as I put gasoline into it!

Consider that the 44 lb thrust trolling motor uses about 36 amps an hour--and a group 27 battery will be about 100 amp hours--so that it will be 50% discharged in about an hour and a half. Also, that the C Dory will not be pushed at adequate speeds.

Any motor over 55 lb thrust will be 24 volts, and over 80 lbs thrust 36 volts-- (there may be some exceptions). So for a motor adequate for a C Dory 22 you probably will want a minum of 3 group 31 batteries in series--and this gives some problems with charging (special charger).

There is another option--and that is MotorGuide makes "Trim and Troll"--motors--this is a combination trim tab and trolling motor which costs about $2800, and requires 24 volts (2 hp) or 36 volts (3 HP)....but a 3 hp outboard should be about $700 and will push the C Dory in the 3 knot range. I generally use my dinghy engine as a kicker/trolling motor--but getting home would be slow, and I do have a 15 hp I can take along if I need to.

Most of the folks around here use the trolling motors to position their boats so that they can cast into the brush along the banks--rather than actually trolling with them. The C Dory does not lend itself to this type of fishing easily.
 
fisherkb,

We used to have huge stripers just outside Wichita, KS at Cheney Lake and still have some good sized ones at Wilson Lake and Lake Texoma at the OK, TX border.

The guys who have always caught the most and the largest did not use down riggers, nor trolling motors as did I for many years.

What the old timers did was to use long, flexible rods on holders that keep them almost parallel with the water surface. They'd put at least a one ounce weight on the bottom of the line with one or two hooks 18-24 inches above that. If two hooks, then one at 18-24 inches up and another up that same distance from the first hook.

They would net Shad in the early morning and put one on each hook - alive - then drop the rig down and drag it on the bottom very slowly so the rod would flex greatly, then the weight would pop loose and the rod would quickly pull the weight forward, over and over again. They would find the stripers and drift over them from upwind. If the drift was too fast, they'd put out a drift anchor off one quarter so the boat would drift sideways.

Now my boat at that time had thousands of dollars of downriggers, trolling motors, and such, but those guys always outfished everyone else.

I am guessing that the Texas waters are similar.

On lake Texoma, they anchor the boat and drop right down on the stripers with a similar rig or, in hot weather, hit them on the head with a slab.

On Beaver Lake, Arkansas they do troll with the big umbrella rigs at great depths at night, but that water is crystal clear.

Anyway, just my experiences,


John
 
We tested a 30lb thrust motorguide motor on the back of the 25 using a V-Lock mount and it pushed the boat at 1 knot in light winds. It did a good job of manuvering the boat but only a slight job of powering it. I will keep that up our sleeve as a last ditch effort to manuver the boat if we lose all power. We carry it anyway for the dink and it mounts on a quick V-lock and clips to house power lines in about a minute so thats a plus.

30lbs thrust = 1 knot for a 25 cruiser

http://www.c-brats.com/modules.php?set_ ... _photo.php
 
Back
Top